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Recycling Cart News

November 9, 2011

UPDATE: Fairfax County Recycling Bin Exchange - Tuesday, November 22, 2011

As you may have read, Fairfax County will be replacing the existing blue recycling bins with larger wheeled carts. The standard size for our community will be the 35 gallon size, with a few residents choosing the 65 gallon size. The bins will be exchanged on Tuesday, 22 Nov 2011. For those residents who wish to keep the current bins, do not place them out on that day. (Anyone who wishes to exchange recycling cart sizes in the future may contact the Fairfax County Division of Waste Collection and Recycling; changes will be subject to availability.)

October 31, 2011

UPDATE: All recyclables will be placed in the new bins. Residents may keep the existing bins for use within the home, but only the new wheeled carts (32 gallon default, 64 gallon by request) will be used for collections.

Sorry, didn’t see the other question – yes all materials (bottles, cans, plastic, newspaper, junk mail, cardboard, etc.) all go into one cart. If the recycling bins are out on the day we deliver the carts they will be removed. I will let you know what that day will be so that those that want to keep the recycling bins for use inside can keep the bins. They would just not put them out that day.

Colleen M. Burroughs
Management Analyst II
Division of Solid Waste
Collection and Recycling
703-324-5228
colleen.burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov

October 21, 2011

Dear Governor's Grove Residents,

As many of you know, Fairfax County will be changing the recycling bins to wheeled carts, allowing newly equipped collection trucks with mechanical arms to lift and empty them. The old bins will soon no longer be collected. We recently found out that Fairfax County will be supplying homeowners with either 35 gallon or 65 gallon carts. To simplify this mandatory replacement process, the Board has decided to standardize on the smaller 35 gallon carts due to prevalent space limitations. However, any homeowner who wishes the larger 65 gallon size can get them by simply e-mailing a request to Thurmon Deloney, tdeloney@verizon.net, by 4 November. Please include your address; Fairfax County wants the Board to submit a complete list of addresses for the community specifying cart sizes. For homeowners who buy units subsequent to this initial deployment and wish to change, Colleen Burroughs at the Fairfax County Division of Solid Waste Collection and Recycling assured us that change is possible upon request, subject to availability.

October 1, 2011

Dear Governor's Grove Residents,

This is an update to the Fairfax County plan to replace our recycling bins with bins on wheels, similar to the current trash bins. Unfortunately, the information we provided at the Annual Meeting was not accurate. As you can see from the e-mail exchange below, we do not have a long time nor the luxury of individuals to either opt in or opt out of the new bins. Fairfax County is going to change to the larger, wheeled bins no later than summer. They plan on exchanging all of our current bins to the wheeled version all at once. When that is done, the older, non-wheeled bins will no longer be picked up, since the trucks will all use mechanical arms to lift the new, wheeled bins. As an Association, we only have the option of whether or not to participate in the pilot program among associations, or wait until the County makes its final decision and implements whatever size they want. If we participate, perhaps we can influence whether the proposed 64 gallon size will be used, or if we can use the smaller 32 gallon size during the trial.

The Governor's Grove HOA Board will make a decision when we have our organizational meeting this week. Feel free to give us your preferences by e-mail to me at tdeloney@verizon.net

EMAIL EXCHANGE BETWEEN FAIRFAX COUNTY DIVISION OF COLLECTION/RECYCLING AND GOVERNOR'S GROVE HOA PRESIDENT THURMON DELONEY

From: Thurmon Deloney

Subject: Re: 64 gallon recycling cart

Date: October 3, 2011 1:07:51 PM EDT

To: "Burroughs, Colleen" <Colleen.Burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov>

That would be fine if we didn't have one common concern among those who either don't want the new carts at all or want the 32 gallon carts; with the existing trash bins, the new recycling carts will exceed the storage space many residents have in their garages. (HOA rules prohibit storage in front of or on the side of units, except for the 24 hour period centered around the morning pickup.) Some dissenting owners have specifically requested no new carts, some have asked for the 32 gallon carts, and others have suggested giving us smaller trash bins if we get the 64 gallon recycling carts. For myself, I don't want a smaller trash bin, and don't see a need to rush to the 64 gallon size in a pilot program that would inconvenience many residents, who might just forgo recycling completely if their storage space becomes an issue.

Thurmon

_______________________________________________________________________

On Oct 3, 2011, at 6:57 AM, Burroughs, Colleen wrote:

If there is no HOA regulation concerning trash containers/pickup in Governors Grove. Why don’t we give all residents the 64 gallon carts now, and if at some time a smaller cart becomes available, we could let residents know, and those that want to could swap recycling carts to a smaller size at that time.

Colleen M. Burroughs
Management Analyst II
Division of Solid Waste
Collection and Recycling
703-324-5228
colleen.burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov

_______________________________________________________________________

From: Thurmon Deloney

Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 4:38 PM

To: Burroughs, Colleen

Subject: Re: 64 gallon recycling cart

Colleen,

Right now, the limited feedback I have from our community is split between those who want the new carts now, those who don't want to change at all, and another group who wants new carts, but the smaller version (32 gallon.) If our community were to participate in the trial, we would opt for the 32 gallon cart.

Thurmon L. Deloney II, PhD
Board President, Governors Grove Homeowners Association
(703) 960-3096 _______________________________________________________________________

On Sep 30, 2011, at 2:25 PM, Burroughs, Colleen wrote:

As of this time, we have not made the decision as to which townhouses will be participating in the pilot program this fall/winter. Will keep Governors Grove HOA on our list as a possible participant if you don’t decide to have the 64 gallon carts delivered to all residents in the next few weeks. If Governors Grove HOA decides to receive the 64 gallon recycling carts now for all residents, please let me know and I will work on getting them delivered. Please let me know what you decide as a community.

Colleen M. Burroughs
Management Analyst II
Division of Solid Waste
Collection and Recycling
703-324-5228
colleen.burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov

_______________________________________________________________________

From: Thurmon Deloney

Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 10:25 AM

To: Burroughs, Colleen

Subject: Re: 64 gallon recycling cart

Just to be clear, will the transition mandating the new containers be this Spring, or is there some other timeframe for our community? Also, are there different sizes available, or will there be only the 64 gallon? Thanks.

Thurmon L. Deloney II, PhD
Board President, Governors Grove Homeowners Association
(703) 960-3096

_______________________________________________________________________

On Sep 30, 2011, at 9:45 AM, Burroughs, Colleen wrote:

That is not going to work. We will not be taking individual requests from townhouses since we are discontinuing the use of the recycling bins, and all residents will need to switch over. The question now is do all the residents want the 64 gallon recycling cart available now or do they want to wait until Spring for us to run a pilot program and possibly get a smaller size container. We will be surveying a random sample of townhouses this fall/winter to determine what size recycling cart works best for townhouses. Since we are switching over to a truck with an arm on the side, the recycling bins will no longer be emptied and will at some point be removed.

Colleen M. Burroughs
Management Analyst II
Division of Solid Waste
Collection and Recycling
703-324-5228
colleen.burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov

_______________________________________________________________________From: From: Thurmon Deloney

Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 8:58 AM

To: Burroughs, Colleen

Subject: Re: 64 gallon recycling cart

At our Annual Homeowners' Association Meeting last night, we had a mixed reaction about changing the bins. Some owners want them now, others don't want to change. One of the residents who do want the new bin is at 5591 Governors Pond Cir. Again, there are no HOA restrictions on individual owners changing to the new bins. However, there is not a universal acceptance, and we will have individual homeowners who wish for the new bins to send in their request.

Thurmon L. Deloney II, PhD
Board President, Governors Grove Homeowners Association
(703) 960-3096

_______________________________________________________________________

On Sep 21, 2011, at 8:11 AM, Burroughs, Colleen wrote:

I’ve received your letter authorizing Fairfax County to delivered the new, wheeled 64 gallon recycling carts to the residents in Governors Grove. All residents will need to convert to the new recycling cart at some time, since we are discontinuing the use of the recycling bins. Please confirm the addresses that are located in Governors Grove so that we can have the recycling carts delivered to all residents in the next few weeks.

Colleen M. Burroughs
Management Analyst II
Division of Solid Waste
Collection and Recycling
703-324-5228
colleen.burroughs@fairfaxcounty.gov